Madeline Lee (opera)
Encyclopedia
Madeline Lee is a one act opera
, composed by John Haddock to a libretto
written jointly by the composer and Michael Campbell. It premiered at the Sydney Opera House
on 8 October 2004 in an Opera Australia
production directed by Michael Campbell and conducted by Tom Woods.
Lady Be Good
in 1943 over Libya in North Africa. Taking elements of the story as portrayed in the television movie Sole Survivor
, it enlarges on the themes of dislocation, memory, isolation and identity, and concentrates on the internal relationship between the dead crew and the Major, who heads the search and rescue party sent to survey the wreck. The revelation of their intertwined fate culminates in a dramatic re-enactment of the Madeline Lee’s final bombing mission over the Mediterranean and the recovery by the Major of his suppressed memories of the event.
The creators then workshopped the score in the Centre for Performance Studies at the University of Sydney
by means of a grant from the Australia Council for the Arts and private sponsorship in 1999, and two years later scene four of the completed score was given a concert performance in the Sydney Opera House
in September 2001, conducted by the noted Australian composer Richard Mills
. In an odd twist of fate, this scene (in which the bomber crashes), was given its first orchestral rehearsal on the morning of 9/11. After further work on the score, the opera was scheduled for its world premiere in 2004.
as part of its 2004 Sydney Winter Season. The cast was as follows:
The final performance was recorded by ABC Classic FM
and broadcast nationwide on 12 December 2004 and again in 2005.
Madeline Lee was consequently nominated for seven Helpmann Award
s in July 2005. The nominations were José Carbò (Best Male Performer in a Supporting Role in an Opera,) Christopher Lincoln (Best Male Performer in a Supporting Role in an Opera,) John Haddock (Best Original Score,) Tom Woods (Best Music Direction,) Michael Lewis (Best Male Performer in an Opera,) John Haddock and Michael Campbell (Best New Australian Work,) and lastly Madeline Lee was nominated as Best Opera.
In October 2006 Opera Australia
celebrated its 50th birthday with a gala concert in the Sydney Opera House, performing scenes, arias and ensembles from some of the company’s extensive repertoire in concert form. Modern Australian operatic composition was represented on that occasion by a performance of scene two from Madeline Lee, sung by Michael Lewis and conducted by Richard Hickox
. The concert was recorded live by ABC for broadcast and was released in DVD form the following year.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, composed by John Haddock to a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
written jointly by the composer and Michael Campbell. It premiered at the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
on 8 October 2004 in an Opera Australia
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
production directed by Michael Campbell and conducted by Tom Woods.
Plot
The story of the opera is based on the disappearance of the B24 bomberB-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
Lady Be Good
Lady be Good (aircraft)
Lady Be Good was an American B-24D Liberator, AAF serial number 41-24301, which flew for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. Based at Soluch Field in Soluch as part of the 514th Bomb Squadron, 376th Bomb Group, it failed to return from an April 4, 1943 bombing raid on Naples,...
in 1943 over Libya in North Africa. Taking elements of the story as portrayed in the television movie Sole Survivor
Sole Survivor (1970 film)
Sole Survivor is a TV movie written by Guerdon Trueblood and directed by Paul Stanley. It starred Richard Basehart, William Shatner, and Vince Edwards...
, it enlarges on the themes of dislocation, memory, isolation and identity, and concentrates on the internal relationship between the dead crew and the Major, who heads the search and rescue party sent to survey the wreck. The revelation of their intertwined fate culminates in a dramatic re-enactment of the Madeline Lee’s final bombing mission over the Mediterranean and the recovery by the Major of his suppressed memories of the event.
History
The piece was first drafted in 1990, but gained creative impetus after the composer survived the Port Arthur massacre in 1996 along with six other colleagues from Opera Australia. In partnership with the director and dramaturg Michael Campbell, the script was re-written, focussing on how traumatic events alter the way humans remember things, especially the feeling of dislocation of time and the loss of identity.The creators then workshopped the score in the Centre for Performance Studies at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
by means of a grant from the Australia Council for the Arts and private sponsorship in 1999, and two years later scene four of the completed score was given a concert performance in the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
in September 2001, conducted by the noted Australian composer Richard Mills
Richard Mills
Richard John Mills AM, DMus BA Qld, is an Australian conductor and composer. He currently works as Artistic Director of the West Australian Opera and Artistic Consultant with Orchestra Victoria...
. In an odd twist of fate, this scene (in which the bomber crashes), was given its first orchestral rehearsal on the morning of 9/11. After further work on the score, the opera was scheduled for its world premiere in 2004.
Cast
The premiere was staged by Opera AustraliaOpera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
as part of its 2004 Sydney Winter Season. The cast was as follows:
| Role | Voice type Voice type A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types... |
Premiere cast, 8 October 2004 Conductor Conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble... : Tom Woods |
|---|---|---|
| The Boy | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Christopher Lincoln |
| The Major | dramatic baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
Michael Lewis |
| Lieutenant | baritone | Douglas McNicol |
| Pat | bass-baritone Bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende... |
Nicolas Todorovic |
| Ben | bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C... |
Judd Arthur |
| 1st Officer | baritone | José Carbò |
| 2nd Officer | baritone | James Payne |
| 3rd Officer | bass | Richard Anderson |
| Director | Michael Campbell | |
| Designer | Brian Thomson Brian Thomson Brian Thomson is an Australian theatre, opera and film designer. He has been active in Australian stage design for over three decades.Thomson began a long and successful collaboration with director Jim Sharman after they met at Heavenburgers on Sydney's Oxford Street in 1969; they worked together... |
|
| Lighting | Stephen Wickham | |
| Assistant Director | Matthew Barclay | |
| Stage Manager | Chrissie Higgins | |
| Orchestra | Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra The Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra is one of two full time, permanent orchestras employed jointly to provide music for Opera Australia and The Australian Ballet, the other is known as Orchestra Victoria... |
|
| Production | Opera Australia Opera Australia Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne... |
|
Reception
The opera received widespread critical acclaim. Critics called it "a forceful account of an encounter between a person and his memories… a strange, strong statement, built on sound operatic understanding by a promising new operatic talent." Others described it as "a compelling and haunting work about the power of memory and how it affects our lives. Haddock and Campbell’s lyrical and elegiac libretto is so good that, at times, it rises to the level of poetry. Madeline Lee is an important achievement in Australian Opera…" and… "Madeline Lee is one of those rare operas where music, drama and emotion synthesize into moments that feel incredibly immediate and real…a truly riveting piece." The audience reception was also noteworthy. "It was a rare enough occasion that Opera Australia presented the world premier of an Australian opera, and an even rarer instance that the audience leapt to their feet at the end and gave both the composer and the co-librettist/director a standing ovation….Easily the best thing we have seen at the opera all year."The final performance was recorded by ABC Classic FM
ABC Classic FM
ABC Classic FM is a classical music radio station available in Australia, and internationally online. It is operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation . It was established in 1976 as "ABC-FM", and later for a short time was known as "ABC Fine Music" , before adopting its current name...
and broadcast nationwide on 12 December 2004 and again in 2005.
Madeline Lee was consequently nominated for seven Helpmann Award
Helpmann Award
The Helpmann Awards recognize distinguished artistic achievement and excellence in Australia's live performing arts sectors. The recognized disciplines include musical and physical theatre, contemporary and classical music, opera, and dance, with a comedy category introduced in 2006...
s in July 2005. The nominations were José Carbò (Best Male Performer in a Supporting Role in an Opera,) Christopher Lincoln (Best Male Performer in a Supporting Role in an Opera,) John Haddock (Best Original Score,) Tom Woods (Best Music Direction,) Michael Lewis (Best Male Performer in an Opera,) John Haddock and Michael Campbell (Best New Australian Work,) and lastly Madeline Lee was nominated as Best Opera.
In October 2006 Opera Australia
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
celebrated its 50th birthday with a gala concert in the Sydney Opera House, performing scenes, arias and ensembles from some of the company’s extensive repertoire in concert form. Modern Australian operatic composition was represented on that occasion by a performance of scene two from Madeline Lee, sung by Michael Lewis and conducted by Richard Hickox
Richard Hickox
Richard Sidney Hickox CBE was an English conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic music.-Early life:Hickox was born in Stokenchurch in Buckinghamshire into a musical family...
. The concert was recorded live by ABC for broadcast and was released in DVD form the following year.